Nerf Gun Battle Royale
by ravenclawdancer4999
Summary: Matt and Nick decide things have been a little too quiet lately, say, a lull in the action after SPACE tour. They call their friends back to where it all began with a very simple set of rules. Ten Starkids. Only one will emerge victorious from the Nerf Gun Battle Royale. Set before Holy Musical B@man. Rated T to be safe.
1. No Mercy

"Nick? Matt?" Brian called as he walked into an open studio in the Walgreen's Drama Center, "Where are you guys?"

"We wondering the exact same thing," a familiar voice answered. On entering the room, Brian found Joe, Joey, Meredith, Lauren, Dylan, Jaime, and Julia sitting cross-legged on the floor. The voice had belonged to Lauren, who had sprawled across a very disgruntled Julia.

"Do any of you know what's going on?" Meredith asked, only to receive shrugs and shaking of heads. As though they were summoned, the two Lang brothers strode into the room looking very pleased with themselves. After receiving a quick nod from his brother, Nick swiftly exited again.

"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why we called you here today," Matt started.

"Yeah, no shit," Walker commented, before being shortly silenced by an elbow in the ribs from Dylan

"It's come to our attention that there has been, shall we say, a lull in the action of this team. The tour just finished and it's still a bit too soon to be starting work on the new musical. We figured with everyone back in town for a few days, we should make the best of our time back in Michigan. Which is why, Nick and I have decided to revisit one of our favorite pastimes in college."

"Themed karaoke?" Joey volunteered.

"No."

"Harry Potter drinking games?" Julia suggested.

"No."

"Hiding Brian's Red Bull?" Jaime offered.

"WHAT?" Brian exclaimed.

"Hilarious, but no."

"Maybe this will jog your memories," Nick called from the hallway. Not a moment later, he came back in, dragging a heavy cardboard box behind him. Once he was close enough, Matt extracted something from the box and held it up for everyone to see. In his hand was a yellow Nerf Gun, already loaded with ten darts.

"Hell. Yes." Dylan grinned.

"Nerf Gun war," Nick nodded, "Everyone is going to be armed with one gun, but we've hidden some extra ammunition around the building-"

"That is, if you're smart enough to find it," Matt added, smirking slightly.

"But you know the drill; alliances, anything you find in the building, stealing weapons, and ninja rolling are all fair game. Everyone take a weapon." The group swiftly made a grab for the guns in the box Nick was holding. Once everyone was armed, they all silently processed to the door, ready to start in a second's notice. Matt stopped in the doorframe, his hand hovering over the light switch.

"My suggestion for all of you when the lights go out is to run like hell. Last one standing will be the victor. No. Mercy."


	2. Alliances Are Formed

The group was all at once plunged into darkness; it seemed the brothers had pulled every shade and thrown the switch on the building's fuse box. Heeding Matt's warning, everyone sprinted off in different directions, getting as far away from each other as possible.

Unfortunately, this plan hadn't seemed to work for Meredith and Lauren. Whilst Meredith had been searching a dark classroom for extra ammo, Lauren executed a ninja roll worthy of James Bond, right into the doorframe. Meredith jumped slightly at the large crash, but turned to see Lauren's petite body crumpled in a heap at her feet. Trying to stifle her giggles, Meredith put out a hand.

"Partners?" she whispered.

"Partners," Lauren groaned quietly, grabbing Meredith's outstretched arm.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I think I may have bruised something."

"What?"

"My ego."

Meanwhile, on the floor above, Joe crept from room to room and was itching to shoot his darts. Stopping for only a second to get his bearings in the pitch darkness, he thought he heard a lone footstep. His ears perking up (or so he imagined), he strained to hear further noise, but the footsteps had stopped. He shook his head, maybe he was imagining things.

Suddenly, there was the click of a loaded Nerf behind Walker. He locked his dart in position and whipped around, prepared to shoot the next thing that moved. He came nose to nose with Brian. There was a look of intense concentration and malice reflected on each of their faces. Lowering his weapon Brian quickly put a finger to his lips and jerked his head towards an open door. His eyes still narrowing suspiciously, Walker nodded and lowered his gun. The two slipped into the room and shut the door behind them. Brian gently set his gun on the floor in front of Joe.

"The way I see it," he said quietly, "We have one of two options; we can either be enemies, all hell will break loose, and we'll both lose, or, we can agree on an alliance, take down everyone else, and share the bragging rights when we win. So, what do you say?" Joe's face broke into a grin and he tossed Brian his Nerf gun.

"Let's win this shit."

While everyone else had scattered though the building, Matt and Nick, who had previously made an alliance, remained in the same spot where the game began. After running out, they looped back around to the same room, shutting the door behind them. They had purposely told everyone to scatter, in order to separate themselves from the others.

What they hadn't expected, was Julia. The girl was all too aware of the brothers' conniving, mischievous side that they usually managed to hide from everyone else. After watching them teepee Darren's car during junior year, she had learned not to be fooled, however innocent they may have appeared. Already very suspicious of the whole setup, Julia ignored Matt's warning and had positioned herself underneath the pile of large beanbags, in a perfect position to eavesdrop.

As Julia looked on, Nick pulled another Nerf gun from behind the large piano. He grinned evilly as he cocked the weapon, preparing it for combat. Matt simply shook his head, but Julia's eyes widened before narrowing dangerously with anger. She needed a plan of action, fast.

"Bet none of them saw this coming," Nick bragged.

"Nick, did we not just specifically tell them that there would be only _one_ weapon per person? Why can't we just take someone else's weapon and be done with it?" Matt complained.

"Because, young padawan, that takes too much effort."

"But isn't it cheating?"

"It's only cheating if you get caught."

"Then I guess you're in big trouble," Julia snapped, bursting out from underneath her fortress, sending the beanbags flying. Taking advantage of the split second advantage she had, she flew at Nick, who was in complete shock. The girl managed to pin him to the floor, straddle herself over his stomach and grabbed his illegal weapon away from him, in addition to the first Nerf gun, in under twenty seconds. Tucking her own weapon in belt loop out of Nick's reach, she positioned a Nerf in each hand.

"Run while you still can, Matt!" Nick yelled. Julia pointed the barrel between his eyes and pointed the other at Matt, who looked confused, but impressed.

"Surrender the weapon," Julia said slowly, her voice dangerously calm, "Bring it to me, and I'll let both of you go."

"DON'T DO IT!" Nick yelled, before Julia moved her aim to his heart.

"Quiet you," she ordered, "You'll get us all found." Matt turned the weapon, the barrel facing towards himself and slowly moved over to Julia. He held out the weapon at an arm's length. Julia gingerly accepted the gun and placed it in another belt loop. Giving Nick one last glare, she stood up and released him. Looking very proud of herself, she turned on her heel and headed for the door. Matt shared a look with Nick for half a second before looking back at Julia.

"Julia, wait!" he called after her, "We have a proposition for you."

"What?" Nick hissed, "She looked like she was about to eat me and you have a proposition for her?"

"Make an alliance with us," Matt continued, "On the condition that you return our weapons. With your skill and our knowledge, we can win this thing."

Julia turned to meet Matt's eye, searching his face for signs of dishonesty. Finding none, she smiled and tossed the Nerf guns back to their respective owners, keeping the extra for herself.

"Deal."

From the floor below, Joey emerged from an open janitor's closet. In his left hand, he clutched a pack of fifteen extra darts and seemed ready to guard it with his life. He knew better than to go looking for trouble in this situation. Joe and Brian would both have no problem taking him out with pure force. Meredith would remove him from the game with a single shot and Lauren would sneak up on him before he even knew she was there. He didn't know about everyone else, but it was clear to him they weren't his main concern at this point. He tiptoed along the wall into their old performance space, trying to see through the darkness. It was pitch black in the basement, with absolutely no light to help him see.

"Joey?" a whisper came from the back wall.

"Dylan?" Joey replied, "Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?" Dylan muttered, "Brian or Walker would have already taken you out by now and you know that's not Nick and Matt's style."

"Oh, but how did you know it was me?"

"Joey, you're being really loud; I heard you knock something off a shelf down the hall."

"Oops….alliance?" There was a long silence before Dylan spoke again.

"You know what? Sure," Dylan replied, "But we should probably split up, keep anyone from getting suspicious. We'll be harder to track if we keep separated."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Joey whispered, pulling out his iPhone from his back pocket, "Keep in touch by text?"

"Just make sure it's on vibrate," Dylan nodded, "And do not check it until you're sure you are completely _alone_."

"Done," Joey nodded, shaking Dylan's outstretched hand. "They won't even know what hit them." The boy strolled out of the room and ran straight in to a wall not two minutes later.

Dylan only flinched slightly at the resounding "Ow!" that came from the hallway. He let out a groan under his breath and rolled his eyes. While he did feel bad for lying to Joey, he couldn't say her regretted it. He agreed to the alliance, but his reasoning for keeping to themselves was completely selfish. It was only a matter of time before Joey was detected by the other teams. If they were ambushed, Dylan didn't want to be there when it happened.

He hustled out of the room and shut the door behind him. Once the footsteps had faded, a shadowy figure emerged from behind the abandoned sound board. Eyes glittering keenly, she smiled an evil smile that no one had ever seen her wear.

"Game on," she whispered, before disappearing back into the shadows.

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**A/N: Okay, by process of elimination, I'm pretty sure you all know who this "shadowy figure" is, but for the purpose of this story, their name probably won't be revealed until later for dramatic purposes...And if you haven't figured out, MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**


	3. Why Didn't I Ever Run Track?

**Moving right along with this story, I'm still kind of setting up where everyone is and such in this chapter. On the other hand, for once I actually know where this story is going to go, in terms of basic plot lines. Hope everyone enjoys, read and review! Hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999**

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Amazingly, roughly twenty minutes went by and none of the teams had run across each other yet. Most of this time was spent setting up bases and collecting materials that could be useful.

Not only did the Langs and Julia have the advantage of the extra weapon in play, but Matt had located the key ring he and Nick shared that contained almost all the keys used in the building. They now had access to the closets, studios, and equipment.

"Our teachers told us to keep it in case of an emergency," Matt shrugged, "I think this qualifies." Julia managed to obtain several flashlights, a roll of duct tape, two sets of walkie-talkies, and three whistles. She tossed a whistle to each of the brothers and tucked one in her own pocket.

"Only use it if you're in trouble," she explained, "Kind of like a rape whistle."

"Great," Nick groaned, his tone of voice screaming, _"TMI!" _They each grabbed a walkie-talkie, which Nick had adjusted to all run on the same frequency. He hid the spare inside the piano in case one of the others was lost. The ring of keys, which would make too much noise, was also hidden inside the piano, along with the spare Nerf gun. Julia only removed the key that would unlock the door to their base and slid it into her left shoe. After receiving questioning looks from Matt and Nick, she merely shrugged.

"What? You can never be too careful," she said defensively.

Suddenly, from down the hall, there was sound of two sets of footsteps on the stairs. It was very clearly the sound of two males. Matt signaled frantically to Julia and Nick. All three bolted through the door and heard the lock click behind them. Not sure of who they were facing, they slid into the nearest closet. Thankfully, it was a prop closet they chose to duck into so therefore, it was chock full of boxes to hide behind. No sooner had Nick dove behind a box of brooms did they hear voices.

"I could have sworn I heard someone come down this way," Walker's voice whispered, "Maybe it was just a fluke?"

"No I heard it too," Holden's voice muttered back, "We'll keep tabs on this area for a while. For now, let's report back to base. Something tells me Lauren will be out looking for trouble pretty soon and Meredith won't be far behind."

Julia looked at Nick, then to Matt, indicating her hunch to follow them. The two brothers nodded and the three slowly crept after Brian and Joe, being sure to keep their distance.

No sooner were they out of sight did the shadowy figure emerge from the next room over. The girl couldn't help but smirk; she was the one Brian and Joe had heard and purposely led them to Julia, Matt, and Nick. She pulled a bobby pin from her hair and quietly slid it into the lock. After wiggling it around for a minute, the door gave a telltale click and swung open. Executing a ninja roll just because she could, she jumped up and tiptoed to the piano. Gingerly lifting the lid, she swiped the walkie-talkie and the spare Nerf Gun and placed them inside the black backpack she had found filled with darts. She carefully nestled them in her jacket, which would muffle any sound they might make and zipped the bag shut

She pulled the key ring from the very bottom of the piano. Scanning the key ring, she only took the two keys she knew would be of use to her. After sliding the keys in her back pocket, she placed the rest back in their hiding place, making it look like they had never moved. She closed the piano and silently took off. While she hadn't made a base yet, she intended to and knew exactly where she wanted it to be.

"Lauren, why exactly are we setting up headquarters in the girls' bathroom again?" Meredith shook her head, sitting on the edge of the sink counter.

"Because one, the guys can't come in here and two, no one would ever see it coming," Lauren explained.

"So how long are we going to sit here before something actually happens?"

"We'll probably need to go find some of that extra ammo in a few minutes. If we come across anyone in the process, all the worse for them."

Meanwhile, Julia, Matt, and Nick seemed to have lost Brian and Joe. In keeping such a distance, they had missed which hallway they had taken. The two boys had set up a makeshift base in the room where they used to practice stage combat when they were still in college. Dragging several of the mats across the room, they had managed to set up a barricade sort of a structure. It was just tall enough for them to duck under and just short enough for them to jump over.

"I remember when we'd spend hours in here smacking each other around," Brian sighed, tossing the last mat on the large stack, "It was always so therapeutic; you could have an entire fight without hurting anyone, but still get the satisfaction you need."

"Pity we can't do that in the real world," Joe snorted, "Anywhere else it's 'looked down upon' to pull someone by their hair across the floor…I can't imagine why. All of us are so open to it."

"I know; Lauren so thoroughly enjoyed punching you in the face during Starship," Brian added, smirking slightly.

"No more than Meredith enjoyed choking you," Joe countered.

"I swear, I tried to get her to break character every night," Brian complained, "But she never cracked!"

"Dude, she wouldn't even look at you," Joe raised his eyebrows, "She knew exactly what you were doing the entire time. But major props to her for keeping a straight face through all the sound effects coming out of your mouth."

"You heard those?"

"Brian, I'm pretty sure that everyone in the building could hear you by the final performance."

The two snickered, but clearly not loud enough to be heard. Only a few yards away, Joey was wandering through the darkness. He had both hands on the wall, trying to feel his way around the dark basement. Suddenly, his fingers brushed cool metal and he grasped the handle of a door. Being reminded of his blunder with Dylan, he stopped for a moment and considered what to do next.

_"__What if someone hears me?"_

Even though the hallway was pitch black, Joey attempted to survey the area around him. Finally, tightening his grip on the Nerf Gun, he slowly pushed down on the handle and quietly pushed open the door. It only gave one small creak, but this was enough.

Joe heard the squeak and elbowed Brian in the ribs. Thankfully, Brian managed to keep from making noise and crouched into position, ready for attack. He held his fingers close enough for Joe to see. 3, 2, 1.

"ATTAAAAACCKK!" he bellowed, quickly vaulting over the barricade, followed closely by Joe. Joey gave a yell and began to run, with both Joe and Brian in his wake, shooting mercilessly. He ducked and dodged the flying Styrofoam bullets, several of which had flown dangerously close to his head as he ran faster than he had in years.

_"Why didn't I run track when I had the chance?"_ he thought exasperatedly.


	4. If Looks Could Kill

**Yay! ****Things are starting to get intense now...so enjoy, read, and review! Hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999**

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Back on the trio's side of things; they had already given up on trying to find Brian and Joe and were now returning to their chosen base on the second floor.

"Guys, I need to use the bathroom," Julia whispered, pulling the key out of her shoe and dropping it in Nick's palm, "You guys go ahead; I'll catch up in just a minute." She turned to leave, but Matt grabbed wrist before she could.

"Julia, I've got a bad feeling about this," Matt hissed, "What if someone catches you off guard? Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?"

"Don't worry about me, Matt," Julia reassured him, "I'll be fine." As she spoke, she took her whistle out of her back pocket, hung it around her neck, and concealed it under her shirt. Julia soon disappeared into the darkness and the brothers continued down the hallway. Not suspecting anything, she soon became careless with the volume of her steps.

"Do you have everything?" Meredith asked Lauren, looking up from the floor, where she was reloading her Nerf Gun.

"Well, considering 'everything' consists of one Nerf Gun, I think I'm good," Lauren replied.

"Lo, your bracelet," Meredith raised her eyebrows.

"What? Oh," Lauren nodded. The girls had just now taken notice of the noise Lauren's bracelet was making. The silver charms hanging on her wrist were clinking together noisily. Carefully, she removed it and placed on the counter.

"Are you sure it's going to be safe there?"

"It'll be fine; we're going to come right back." Suddenly, Meredith heard the sound of footsteps only a few yards away. She put a hand over Lauren's mouth and motioned to the door. Her friend nodded and quietly grabbed her weapon off the counter and joined Meredith underneath the sink.

Not ten seconds later, Julia strolled into the restroom. Without moving a muscle, the two girls watched her through narrowed eyes as she entered one of the stalls. The moment she emerged, she was ambushed. Julia was met with two Nerf Guns pointing directly between her eyes

"Put your weapon on the floor and back away slowly," Meredith ordered before Lauren changed her mind.

"On second thought, wash your hands before, you surrender the weapon," Lauren decided, "But don't try any funny business, or you'll be down faster than you can say, 'I give up.'" Her mind was moving a mile a minute as she was forced over to the sink. She washed her hands in silence before reluctantly giving up her weapon.

Lauren undid the bandanna she wore around her head, which she had 'eternally borrowed,' from her Taz costume during Starship. Her eyes flickering with a power-hungry light, she pulled Julia's hands behind her back and tied them tightly with the red cloth.

"So, what do we do with her now?" Meredith whispered to Lauren, both their backs turned.

"Depending if she's operating in an alliance, she'd make excellent bait…" Julia tried and failed several times to free her hands, but to no avail. Becoming desperate, she managed to clamp on to the whistle that hung around her neck with only her teeth. Slowly but surely, she pulled the rope lanyard up to her shoulder. She placed her mouth around the whistle and blew it as hard as she possibly could. The piercing sound echoed through the bathroom.

Meredith and Lauren both whipped around to face Julia. Beneath their glares of utmost contempt, she saw a flicker of panic.

"Let's get out of here!" Meredith hissed. Lauren grabbed their captive by the arms and dragged her out of the bathroom, her accomplice following closely behind with the three Nerf Guns; two in hand and one at her waist.

They turned the corner and the shadowy figure emerged. She pushed into the bathroom and quickly surveyed it. Spotting the twinkle of silver on the counter, she picked up Lauren's abandoned charm bracelet and grinned mischievously. The mysterious figure pocketed her prize and slipped out as quickly as she had come.

Around this time, Joey continued to run and his breathing became heavier by the second. Finally, he ducked underneath one of the stairwells in the hope of being able to catch his breath for a minute. The pounding footsteps of Brian and Joe weren't far behind.

"Where'd he go?" Brian muttered, stopping fifteen steps from the bottom, right above Joey's head.

"Dunno, he was just here," Joe replied, squinting to see through the darkness. Joey momentarily stopped breathing, praying they would leave.

Suddenly, the sound of a shrill whistle pierced the silence.

"What was that?"

"It must be someone else, let's go find out who!"

"But what about Joey?"

"Forget him; he's the least of our worries." Joey scowled, but still didn't dare to move. Without another word, he heard the pounding of Joe and Brian's footsteps above him and the slam of the door on the above. Joey gave a sigh of relief and pulled his phone from his pocket.

"Dyl, just shook Joe and Brian. Found their base in SC room in basement. Meet me there in five." He received a brief reply a few minutes later.

"Done." Joey took off again, retracing his steps.

Meanwhile, Nick and Matt had retreated back to their original hideout. However, before they had a chance to do anything, they heard Julia's whistle from the other end of the hall. Not even needing to say a word, the two brothers shared a look and bolted out into the hallway, Nerf Guns in hand.

But by the time they had reached the girls bathroom, it was too late. Julia was long gone.

"What were you thinking?" Lauren hissed at Julia, who was now sitting cross-legged against the wall of an abandoned classroom. "Do you want to get us all caught?" Julia narrowed her eyes and glared at Lauren, then Meredith.

"If I go down, you two are going down with me," she said stiffly, still attempting to free her hands.

"Then I guess we'll have to keep you quiet for the time being," Lauren raised an eyebrow, looking strangely triumphant. Meredith grabbed a scarf from an abandoned box and tossed it to Lauren, who promptly tied it around her roommate's mouth.

"Now what?" Nick whispered to his brother, sitting on the sink counter.

"Try to call her walkie-talkie, I guess?" Matt shrugged, pulling out his own device. Just as he was about to press the talk button, Nick stopped him.

"What if someone has her hostage?" Nick shook his head, "They could be listening."

"That's a chance we may have to take, Nick," Matt replied and boldly pressed the talk button. "Jules? Are you there? Jules?"

Without warning, Julia's walkie-talkie started to crackle with life where she had hung it on her belt loop. Meredith grinned slyly and grabbed it away from Julia. Meredith and Lauren heard Matt's voice through the walkie-talkie. They could hear him trying to keep his composure, but still heard his frantic tone.

"Sorry, Julia can't answer her radio right now, can I take a message?" Meredith asked mockingly.

"Meredith?" Nick's voice replied, "What have you done with Julia?"

"Nothing…" Meredith answered sweetly, "She's just, tied up at the moment." Lauren snickered at this, but motioned for her to continue. "If you want her back, you'll have to find us first," she added slyly, "And may the odds be ever in you favor; you'll need it." The static stopped as she shut off the radio. They both turned back to Julia, smirking and looking very pleased with themselves, but Julia didn't share their amusement.

If looks could kill, the two girls would have been dead, ten times over.


	5. A Slytherin Move

**Finally it's summer! Does everyone know what this means? Hopefully, more frequent chapter updates...This is probably my favorite chapter so far, so I hope you all enjoy this one as much as I do. As always, read and review. Hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999.**

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Joey and Dylan met up in the basement classroom a few minutes later. Even though Joey knew Dylan was coming, it didn't keep him from jumping slightly at the squeak of the door.

"How did you figure out this was where they were?" Dylan asked, mildly impressed with his discovery.

"I…actually came across the two of them by accident when I was trying to figure out where I was," Joey confessed, grinning sheepishly, "They chased me up to the second floor before I managed to lose them."

"What happened?"

"I honestly don't really know; I managed to duck underneath a staircase and they were just about to find me, but then someone blew a whistle and they ran off to see who it was."

"Sweet, that'll buy us some time!"

"For what?"

"Joey, we could launch a counterattack from back here. We wait for them to come back here and take them by surprise on their own turf."

"Oh, I get it. Do think they have any ammo around here?"

"Wouldn't hurt to look." Both Dylan and Joey scoured the dark room, but came back empty handed.

"I guess they were too busy chasing you to look for any," Dylan shrugged, "Any other ideas?"

"I stashed a pack of darts I found earlier in a closet down the hall," Joey nodded, "I didn't want to take any chances. Let's go get those." The two boys quickly sprinted out of the room, in order to get back before Brian and Joe did.

As soon as they had turned the corner, the mysterious figure slipped into the stage combat room unnoticed. Her eyes flicking around the room, she slid her hand in between two of the mats and came out with a stash of twenty more darts. These were tucked into her bag, along with all of the other prizes she had collected. With her objective complete, she slid back out of the room and scaled three flights of stairs to the top floor.

The mysterious figure reached the door at the end of the hall and stopped, she pulled one of the keys out of her back pocket. Sliding it into the lock, the door clicked open and she stepped inside. Closing the door, she swiftly turned on a dim bulb, loosening it slightly to keep the light from becoming too bright.

In front of her sat an impressive collection of computer screens and keyboards. With a touch of a button, the screens all turned on and she had a full view of nearly every inch of the building. She couldn't believe no one had thought of using the security office.

The room lit with the glow of the screens, she switched off the dull light and surveyed the video feed in front of her. Joey and Dylan had returned to the basement stage combat room, crouched beneath the makeshift barricade. Joe and Brian were prowling around the first floor, about to return to the basement. Matt and Nick were on the second floor, huddling together in a classroom, seemingly talking.

She spotted the outline of three girls in a room on the other end of the hall on the third floor. Squinting, she attempted to make out who was who, but to no avail. The three figures were stooped too close together to determine who was allied and who was not. Suddenly, Matt and Nick split up, moving to different rooms. The figure watched their progression, as they poked their head into each room and closet on the second floor.

Curious, the shadowy figure pulled her "borrowed" walkie-talkie from within the backpack. Turning it on bit by bit, she caught the tail end of a conversation.

"-Not in here, Nick," Matt's voice whispered, "Where do you think they would have taken her?"

"Mere and Lauren couldn't have gotten too far if they forced Julia to follow them," Nick replied just as quietly, "My guess is that they went upstairs. I'll go scout it out and let you know; you go check out the floor below us. Don't use the radio again, they could be listening. Meet back at home base once you're done."

The radio went quiet again, but that was all the information needed. Crossing the room, the mysterious person ensured the door had locked behind her before returning the computer screens. Sure enough, a few minutes later the door handle wiggled a few times as one of the Langs, presumably Nick, tried to open it. As she heard footsteps fading away to the other end of the hall, she leaned back in the cushioned chair, a grin spreading across her face.

_"__Is this what having a Marauder's Map feels like?" _she thought smugly, _"If so, I could get used to this…" _

She pulled the stolen walkie-talkie from the backpack as it began to crackle with life once more. Turning up the volume ever so slightly, she heard Lauren's voice. On the other side of things, the Lang brothers pulled their own two-way radios out to receive the same, self-satisfied greeting.

"Matt, Nick, seeing as you've failed to find us," she said haughtily, "We've decided to at least give you a chance to get Julia back. One of you may take her place as our hostage if you want her to go free, or, you have the option to leave her at our mercy. Should you attempt an attack, Julia will be hidden away where I can assure you, you will not find her. We will meet you in room 213 in precisely twenty-five minutes for the exchange. The decision is yours."

The wheels in the mysterious figure's head began to turn as she looked up at the video feed. Matt and Nick wanted to save Julia. Knowing Meredith and Lauren like she did, she doubted they would make a fair trade like they had promised. Dylan and Joey were about to attempt an attack on Brian and Joe. If she could time it correctly, she wouldn't need to even lift her Nerf Gun to win the game.

Nick and Matt were far less calm about the message they had just received. Both brothers practically sprinted back to their original base. Nick quickly unlocked the door and the two burst into the room.

"What now?" Matt panicked the minute the door had shut, "No matter what we do we're screwed!"

At the same time, Meredith and Lauren high-fived once the radio had been shut off.

"Think they bought it?" Lauren asked.

"Hook, line, and sinker," Meredith grinned, "They're in for a big surprise." She gave a quick glance over to Julia, whose gaze had narrowed in suspicion. "Do think Julia has been behaving well enough for us to tell her our little secret?" Lauren looked at her roommate and smirked. Enjoying tormenting Julia, she took her sweet time as she strolled over to the back corner.

"You see, Jules," Lauren said, her tone sickly-sweet, "I know that we offered your sweet little partners in crime a fair trade; you or them. The only thing is, I don't remember saying that I would play fair. In fact, I don't remember anyone saying we had to play fair. The Langs are under the impression that we will keep one of you and let the other two leave, unharmed. That being said, they are sorely mistaken."

Julia's eyes grew wide with horror as Meredith walked over to join Lauren.

"Not to mention, we've given them a decision to make, one that won't even matter in the end," Meredith smirked, "I guess you'll find out where their loyalties really lie. Will they sacrifice themselves to save you, or save their own skins? Personally, I think brothers trumps friend, don't you?"

Julia's gaze had now turned from horror to raw anger, her eyes ablaze. She struggled against her bindings, her insults being muffled by the scarf tied around her mouth. Meredith shared a look with Lauren before momentarily removing the gag.

"You disgust me," she spat, "You're both sick." Lauren paused and her facial expression softened, looking somewhat ashamed of herself for a moment.

"Julia's right," Lauren shook her head, glancing up at Meredith before she grinned evilly once more, "It was a dirty, underhanded trick-and I'm very pleased with myself."

"A Slytherin move, through and through," Meredith replied smugly.

"You're so getting locked out of the apartment when we get back to Chicago," Julia snarled, right before Meredith retied the gag.

"I'm already shaking in my sneakers," Lauren retorted dryly, enough sarcasm dripping from her voice to make soup. The two returned to their spot on the other side of the room, whispering hastily about their tactics in the coming confrontation.

Julia, filled with a fresh, burning desire to beat Lauren and Meredith at their own game, struggled silently with the bandanna that bound her hands. An idea struck her; relaxing every inch of her body, she felt the bond become slightly looser. Ensuring her captors weren't looking, she reached for the phone that was sitting untouched in her pocket. The phone slid out on to the floor behind her and using her peripheral vision, she managed to select Nick's number in her contacts. Sliding the cell back out of sight, she fired off an urgent text message, silently thanking her parents for making her take typing classes when she was in high school.

Nick's phone binged in the darkness, breaking the brothers' quiet whispers. It was from Julia.

"Whatever you do, do not meet M and L. It's a trap."

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**A/N: Just to be clear, I am not painting Lauren and Meredith as the "bad guys" in this story. The way it's meant to come across is that they are extremely competitive and will most likely be the team to beat. The relationship between Julia and Lauren is also a lot more fun to play on if they are on different sides. Coming from experience with one of my friends, it's truly hilarious to watch two best friends argue and try to outsmart each other (which by the way, is near impossible if you're close enough)**


	6. We'll Be Back, Losers

**Hey everybody! New chapter! I realized that haven't been entirely clear on how this game is won; essentially if you are hit with a dart, you're out of the game. Up to this point, everyone has been really lucky and narrowly missing being hit. But anyway, I'm hoping to finish this story in ten chapters of less; I've got the plot all laid out, so now it's just a matter of how long it takes to wrap it up. As usual, read and review. Hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999**

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Nick and Matt stared at the screen for nearly two minutes straight, almost unblinkingly. They hardly dared to believe their luck.

"Well, now that I think about it, it really doesn't surprise me at all," Nick muttered, "Except, how in the world did Julia manage to send the text without being seen?"

"She's a master of what I like to call, 'the art of getting shit done,'" Matt grinned slightly, "Give Jules a good reason and she can get away with _anything_."

"Point taken," Nick remarked, scanning over the text again, "But we have to find a way to get Julia out without Lo and Mere seeing us come in."

"How are we supposed to-" Matt started, before there was a knock on the door. Both boys stiffened, but Nick tiptoed across the room. Nerf gun locked in position and ready at his side, he slowly twisted the handle. On opening the door, he came face to face with nothing but darkness. By chance, Nick looked down at his feet and saw a small scrap of paper lying on the ground. Looking left and right, he snatched the paper and shut the door once more.

Pulling out his own phone, Matt shed a dim light on the strip of paper, squinting to read what it said.

_"__Walker and Brian will be heading towards Lauren and Meredith in roughly ten minutes; they'll make a big distraction, use it wisely. –J"_

"J must be Joey," he murmured as Nick read over his shoulder, "But why would he be tipping us off? Something seems…wrong, about this whole thing."

"I think I can sort of see where he's coming from," Nick replied, furrowing his brow, "Lauren, Meredith, Walker, and Brian seem to be the biggest threat, right? If we can push them close enough, they could end up wiping each other out without anyone else having to do anything."

"So we have a distraction; but how do we get in without being seen?" Matt asked exasperatedly.

"The vents?" Nick suggested sarcastically. Matt met his brother's eyes for a fraction of a second before grinning wickedly.

"That'll work."

"Seriously? I was joking!"

"I'm not. People are always making jokes about us being small; for once we can use it to our advantage! Besides, don't you remember when we pranked Joey?"

"Unfortunately. You made _me_ crawl through the vents."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"…At the moment, no, but you're climbing through the vent this time!"

"Fair enough, but we have to time this right."

"We have to time this just right," Dylan whispered, crouched next to Joey behind the barricade of practice mats. The two had been biding their time for the past ten minutes or so, waiting and watching for any sign of Brian and Walker. "One wrong move and we're screwed."

"Right," Joey nodded, "Once they come in, you'll hold the front and I'll sneak around to the back side."

"From there, we don't shoot until they're in the dead center of the room. Don't make any noise until then."

"Don't worry about it, there isn't anything to knock over, so I'm good."

"Joey-"

"They won't know what hit them, Dyl."

"Joey-"

"We're going to dominate."

"Joey!"

"What?"

"Shut up!"

Dylan had heard two sets of footsteps echoing through the hall outside and his grip tightened on his weapon. Joey did the same, ready to slip behind whoever entered the room. The door swung open and the silhouettes of Brian and Joe entered, unaware they were being watched.

Silently, Joey slunk out of sight and moved along the wall in an almost catlike manner. Walker and Holden moved further into the room, whispering to each other and suppressing snickers.

"Can you believe Joey?" Walker snorted quietly, "I thought he was going to wet himself when we jumped out."

"He was screaming like a girl at a shoe sale," Holden mused.

_"__Ignore it, Joey. Don't do anything stupid!"_ Dylan thought desperately.

On the other side of the room, Joey's features hardened and his crooked jaw clenched tightly, but he did nothing. Not making a sound, Joey raised his weapon and aimed directly between his two opponents' heads. He pulled the trigger and a dart went soaring across the room, signaling his accomplice. Unfortunately, this also tipped off Holden and Walker that they were far from alone.

"Ambush!" Walker exclaimed. He and Brian threw themselves to the ground to avoid the volley of Styrofoam bullets that soared over their heads. They stayed on the ground just long enough to load their own weapons.

"You take the person behind the barrier, I'll take the one by the door," Brian muttered out of the corner of his mouth. Squinting through the darkness, Joe was able to make out a familiar silhouette smirking back at him.

"Did you enjoy our little surprise?" the figure taunted gleefully, as another dart soared almost grazed Joe's right shoulder.

"Can't say I did, Dylan," Walker retorted, aiming at his opponent's ear and missing by only an inch. Brian's eyes narrowed on the other side of the room as Joey emerged from the shadows, shooting nonstop.

"You might want to take back what you said about me, Holden," Joey taunted, aiming low for Brian's knees. The lanky boy jumped from side to side, avoiding the Styrofoam bullets. "You can't dodge forever."

"Not a chance," Brian snarled, cocking his own weapon and pointing directly between Joey's eyes. Unfortunately, he too, missed his target. Reaching into his back pocket for a couple of spare darts, he came back with only one bullet. For the first time in the whole game, a look of panic flickered across his face. "Um, Joe?"

"Kind of busy right now, Brian!" Walker answered, his concentration not leaving his target as he ducked away from another bullet.

"You might want to check your ammo supply, because mine isn't doing so well," Holden called nervously. Joe momentarily placed his hand on his back pocket, feeling only three more darts under the fabric.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath, "Would now be a good time to run?"

"Yeah, I'd say so," Brian replied uneasily.

"PUPPY!" Walker yelled, momentarily throwing Dylan and Joey off-guard. The two partners shoved past, sprinted down the hall, and ran up a flight of stairs.

"We'll be back, losers," Holden growled as they ran by Joey.

"You and what army?" Joey asked smugly. He and Dylan high-fived, watching them scramble up to the second floor.

"They will be back, you know," Dylan admitted, "We'd better make ourselves scarce before they do."

"Alright," Joey shrugged, "But we could probably afford to spend a little longer down here." He strolled back into the stage combat room and Dylan followed.

"Well," he grinned, picking up three darts of the floor, "It looks like we won't have to worry about running out of ammo any time soon…"

Joe and Brian reached the second floor landing on the opposite end of the building. Just as they were about to push through the door, Holden spotted a small, dark figure dart out of one of the classrooms and down the hallway.

"Lauren?" he muttered to Joe.

"Her or one of the Langs," Walker murmured back, "You up for a good chase?"

"I'm game," Brian smiled wickedly. All at once, the two boys burst through the door and ran after the dark figure. The person threw open the door to another stairwell and sprinted up to the third floor. In the dimly lit stairwell, Holden and Walker caught a glimpse of the face of Nick Lang before he disappeared on to the third floor. By the time they had reached the next floor, Nick seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"This is seriously getting old," Walker complained.

"Twice in one day!" Brian groaned

A few rooms away, Lauren caught the sound of Joe's voice in the middle of her and Meredith's conversation.

"Is that who I think it is?" Meredith whispered.

"You'd better believe it," Lauren rolled her eyes, "I'm pretty sure those two couldn't shut up if their life depended on it." She looked over to Julia, whose expression said, _"Look who's talking…" _ Lauren merely responded by sticking out her tongue.

"I think we could afford to leave Julia unattended for a few minutes," Meredith decided, grabbing her weapon off the table, "It's not like anyone could get in here without us seeing them first. I vote we go take care of Walker and Holden before we deal with the Langs." Lauren nodded and grabbed her own Nerf Gun, giving Julia a pat on the head as she followed behind Meredith.

"Be good, Jules," she said in the same, sugary tone, "Don't go anywhere while we're gone."


	7. This Means War

**Things are actually going along pretty smoothly, right along the lines I'd like them to go. You might even say things are going swimmingly. I'm genuinely surprised. In other news, I am super-duper-totally-jealous of everyone who went to LeakyCon Portland. I hate you, but I hope you made enough memories and had enough fun for everyone who wasn't there...As usual, read and review. Hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999. **

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_"__Wouldn't dream of it," _Julia thought sarcastically, watching the two girls leave. _"When we get out of here, I'll kill her." _She struggled once more against the binding on her hands, but it was as tight as ever. Just as she was ready to give up, she heard an eerie creaking from the other end of the room. Julia felt her heart momentarily jump into her throat as a figure crawled out of the air vent near the floor. Maybe if she stayed still, they wouldn't notice her…

"Julia?" a quiet voice called through the darkness, "Julia?"

_"__Matt?"_ Julia tried to answer, but the gag around her mouth made it sound more like, "Mmrb?"

"Did someone call for a rescuer?" he smiled, following the source of the noise to the back corner. He squinted and saw Julia, with both her arms and legs bound and the gag around her mouth. "Holy shit," he muttered, his tone becoming suddenly more serious, "Those two don't mess around." Matt immediately slid his fingers through the tight knot and pulled the scarf away from her face.

"Thank god," Julia sighed as the gag was removed from her mouth and Matt started working on the other knots on her ankles and wrists, "I thought I was going to be stuck with those two."  
"Not on mine and Matt's watch," Nick whispered, crawling out to join Matt and Julia, "Meredith and Lauren just chased Joe and Brian into another room; if we want to get out, we'd better go now." Julia nodded, grabbed her weapon off the table, and moved to follow Nick into the hall, but Matt hadn't moved.

"You coming?" she asked.

"I, think I'll use the vents again," Matt grinned sheepishly. Nick rolled his eyes as they watched Matt shimmy back into the small hole in the wall, but Julia simply grinned. She replaced the grate, so Lauren and Meredith wouldn't get any ideas and she and Nick slipped away into the shadows. As they crept along the walls, they heard the noise of a scuffle nearby but didn't stick around to watch. Matt rejoined them a minute later, emerging from a nearby storage closet. The reunited alliance returned back to their base to plan their next move.

While this had been going on, Lauren and Meredith had managed to sneak up on Walker and Brian. Unfortunately, Lauren's sneaker squeaked loudly when they were roughly ten feet away. The boys whipped around to find themselves face to face with the girls. Due to their short supply of ammo, they ducked into a nearby room and made a makeshift barrier out of a table turned on its side. The girls fired mercilessly, but the guys were far more careful with their limited number of darts. About five minutes later, Walker had finally had enough.

"Hold up!" he yelled, sliding his Nerf gun towards Lauren and Meredith, "Cease fire!" Brian raised an eyebrow, but followed the suit. Both girls stopped firing, but refused to lower their weapons.

"Come out here where we can see you," Meredith commanded.

"Gee, it's like they don't trust us or something," Brian muttered as he and Joe crawled out from behind the table.

"Alright, what do you want?" Lauren asked briskly, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"I'll be completely honest," Walker admitted, "We need you a lot more than you probably need us." Lauren and Meredith glanced at each other, looking very smug indeed.

"Go on," Meredith nodded curtly.

"But hear us out," Walker continued, "You have ammo and we know where we could use it. If we combined our alliances, we could be unbeatable." He and Brian looked hopefully at the girls as they traded hushed whispers for a minute's time. Lauren approached Joe with an unreadable expression on her face, Nerf gun still in hand.

"You've got yourself a deal," she answered, holding out her hand to shake. Meredith and Brian did the same. "Follow us; we have to pick up something before we leave." The group of four strolled leisurely down the hallway, now indifferent about being stealthy.

"What should we call ourselves?" Meredith asked offhandedly, not fully expecting a response.

"The Dream Team," Brian grinned, "Because we're fucking awesome like that."

"Lame," Meredith mused, "But I like it."

From within the security office, the shadowy figure scowled as she watched the group of four strolling down the hallway. Her plan had backfired in the worst way possible. Julia and the brothers had gotten away, but now she had to deal with the four biggest threats working together. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned over the screens, not entirely sure of what she was looking for. She stopped on the video feed that came from the basement.

Dylan and Joey appeared to be having a short exchange before they went their separate ways. The figure watched Dylan in particular as he climbed the steps to the second floor. Suddenly, her decision was clear. It was time for her to take matters into her own hands. She powered off the computers, slung the backpack over her shoulder, grabbed her weapon, and left, locking the door behind her. If she wanted something done right, she'd have to do it herself.

Dylan, unaware he was being followed, stopped for a moment to get his bearings. He considered his and Joey's position in the game; if they could eliminate Brian and Joe, it would make things ten times easier in finding everyone else. It was still strange to him that they hadn't come across anyone else...

Suddenly, a bullet soared through the darkness and hit Dylan in the curve of his back. Due to his dramatic tendencies, he fell to the ground with a cry before a piece of cloth was shoved in his mouth. He whipped around to see a familiar face staring back at him, her eyes flickering with power. His eyes widened with shock as she bound his hands behind his back.

"Walk," she ordered, grabbing him by the shoulder. Dylan obeyed, considering he had already lost. While he was freaked out by the behavior, he was also mildly impressed. She dragged him down to the first floor and unlocked a door. The figure threw Dylan inside of what he now realized was a janitor's closet with a surprising amount of strength.

"Sorry, Dyl," she shrugged, spotting the horror on his face "I need leverage on Joey and you're the only one that can provide that." Without another word, she shut the door and left Dylan in darkness.

_"__If I didn't know any better, I'd say we've been a bad influence on her," he_ thought darkly. **(A/N)**

Matt, Julia, and Nick surprisingly managed to return to their base without coming across anyone else. Once the door was shut and locked, Julia gave a sigh of relief. On examination of her Nerf gun though, she found all the bullets were gone.

"Dammit," she murmured, "They must have emptied it in case I did manage to untie myself."

"Don't worry about it," Matt shrugged, "We still have the spare in the piano, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Julia grinned, going over to the chosen hiding spot.

"Maybe if we're lucky Meredith and Lauren shot down Brian and Walker," Nick mused, "Or vice versa. My money's on the girls."

"I'd say they've got a decent chance, but I think Holden's a better strategist than Lauren," Matt said thoughtfully, "I think Meredith's a better shot than Walker though…What do you think Julia?" But Julia hadn't been listening, she was staring straight into the piano, her eyes wide with shock.

"What's up? Is there a spider or-" Nick started, walking over to join Julia. His jaw too fell open when he saw. "Matt, all the stuff we hid in here is gone."

"It can't all be gone," Matt shook his head nervously, going to look for himself. Sure enough, both the Nerf Gun and the walkie-talkie we missing. He stuck his arm into the opening and rummaged around in the bottom, coming back with the key ring a few seconds later.

"Someone must have come in while you were upstairs," Julia reasoned, still sounding slightly shocked. All at once, the brothers realized what must have happened.

"That little shit," Nick muttered.

"I knew something seemed wrong," Matt remarked darkly.

"Sorry, I'm lost," Julia admitted, "Who's the little shit?"

"Joey," Nick answered, "He left us a note that told us that Walker and Brian would be headed towards you and that they would be a decent distraction for Lauren and Meredith."

"Well, he was right about that," Julia shrugged, "Look at it this way; at least we know he hasn't had the chance to listen in on us and he didn't find the keys. The only advantage he has right now is the spare gun."

"That's an awfully big advantage," Matt grumbled.

"Come on guys, it's not that bad," Julia raised an eyebrow, "Its Joey we're talking about for crying out loud. Were it Dylan or Walker, I might be a little more worried, but it's not. Besides, don't you two know where all the ammo is hidden anyway?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah," Nick confessed sheepishly, "Let's just go, get that…"

"Just a sec," Julia grinned with an expression that was more common on Lauren's face than her own. She pulled out her cell phone and typed a quick message, looking extremely satisfied when she pressed send. "I just want to send a quick message to my darling roommate."

"So what is it that you guys have to pick up?" Brian asked as he and Joe followed the girls down the hallway.

"It's not so much a 'what,'" Meredith replied, "It's really more of a 'who.'"

"Fine, _who _is it then?" Walker added.

"It's Ju-" Lauren started before she stopped dead in the doorway. Her eyes flickered around the room, but it was too late. Julia was gone, without a trace.

"Her weapon is gone," Meredith observed, "And it doesn't look like there was any kind of struggle…"

"But I don't see any of the bindings we used," Lauren frowned, "Seems like if she got away she would have left them behind just to mock us, so maybe-" Before she had the chance to finish, her phone vibrated in her back pocket. Her eyes narrowed furiously as she read the text she had just received.

"What's it say, Lo?" Walker said curiously. Lauren still fumed, but shoved her phone into Meredith's hand for her to read. She scanned the text before reading it for the boys to hear.

_"__You really shouldn't have trusted me to sit quietly and behave myself while you were gone, because to be quite honest, it's just not my style. I'll spare you the details of how I escaped, I don't want to waste your time and it's not really your business anyway. Just know that karma sucks and I can't wait to watch it come back to bite you in the ass. Julia out, bitches."_

"Ouch," Holden remarked, trying to stifle a laugh, "That must hurt."

"I hope she knows that this," Lauren snarled, "This means war."

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**A/N: Woohoo! HP reference!**


	8. Four-Way Alliance from Hell

**Hope everyone is having a great summer so far! I just came back from vacation and my first college visit (this was scary and reminded me that I have no idea what I want to do with my life). But anyway, pertaining to the story, I've been looking at it and I'm starting to think 10 chapters may be a little unrealistic. How does under 15 chapters sound to everyone? Enjoy, read and review! Hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999.**

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"Dunundunun dunun dunun dunun dunun dunununaaaaaaaa dunununa…" Joey sang under his breath, tiptoeing through the basement with his weapon held at his chest, feeling particularly like James Bond. He stopped a minute later, trying to remember the next part of the Pink Panther theme song and wondered if there even _was_ a next part.

His phone buzzed lightly in his back pocket just then and he ducked into a nearby room, shutting the door behind him. Once he was sure that he was alone, he let the screen illuminate his face as he scanned for new messages. There was a message from Dylan.

_"__Joey, just saw Brian and Walker headed back down your way. Go to the second floor in ten to get around them."_

_"__K, thanks." _ Joey answered rapidly, before hurriedly shoving the phone back in his pocket. Thank god he had Dylan to warn him.

"Chill, Lo," Meredith said soothingly, "We'll get her back for this."

"She's a dead woman," Lauren growled, still pissed about Julia getting away and having the nerve to gloat about it.

"Sorry to interrupt," Brian cut in, rolling his eyes "But Walker and I have payback we want to dish out too you know."

"Who's the unlucky victim?" Lauren smirked.

"Joey and Dylan," Joe answered darkly, "Those little assholes attacked us on our own turf."

"Do you know where they are now?" Meredith questioned

"They were in our base in the stage combat room, but they might have ran off after we left," Brian admitted.

"And we really don't have a clue where Matt, Nick, and Julia went," Meredith continued, "We should check out the basement first."

"Wait," Joe stopped her, "Bri and I might know where to look for the Langs and Julia."

"Where?" Lauren demanded impatiently.

"We saw Nick dart out of one of the classrooms on the second floor," Brian explained, "That's why we ended up coming across you two in the first place; we chased him up here before he disappeared."

"Could you pick out which room it was?" Lauren pressed.

"Probably."

"Perfect, we can get my bracelet back while we're down there too."

"Your what?" Joe asked.

"My charm bracelet; I took it off in the bathroom because it was making too much noise," she shrugged as they made their way down to the second floor, "We got distracted by Julia and I left it on the counter by mistake. But anyway, if and when we find them; you two can deal with Matt and Nick, but Julia is mine and Meredith's. Clear?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied mockingly, getting a sharp elbow in gut shortly after.

"So, now what?" Matt asked, sitting on beanbag chairs with Nick and Julia.

"I guess we can't really stay here," Nick commented, "Joey knows where our base is, so it's virtually useless.

"We can go pretty much anywhere but this area," Julia nodded, "But we should stay away from the third floor for obvious reasons."

"I vote we go to the first floor," Matt decided, "There's a lot more light down there, but that would presumably keep everyone else away."

"As long as we keep away from the windows, we should be fine," Nick agreed, "But we shouldn't stay there for too long, we need to be mobile for as long as possible. As long as we keep moving-"

Nick stopped abruptly; he could sense that both Matt and Julia had frozen. He strained his ears and heard several sets of footsteps outside, along with a few voices as well.

"Hide!" Julia hissed, diving under the pile of beanbags she had hid under previously to spy on the brothers. Matt scrambled behind a rack of costumes yet to be put away. Nick looked around frantically as the doorknob began to twist open and slid behind the piano at the last second.

The door opened, and in walked Brian, Joe, Meredith, and Lauren. Their eyes narrowed in the darkness, scanning the room for any movement.

"Seems empty enough," Brian uttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"I'm starting to think that those three ran off too," Meredith grumbled, leaning up against the wall.

"We'll find them, even if it takes all day," Lauren remarked swiftly, "They can run but they can't-OMIGOD BEANBAGS!"

She took a running leap and landed right on top of the pile Julia was hiding underneath. It took all of Julia's strength not to make any noise as she felt Lauren land on top of her. She kept her mouth firmly shut, reminding herself how lucky she was that her roommate weighed practically nothing. It could have very well been Joe who took the running leap and landed on her.

"Lauren," Walker shushed, "Shut up, someone's going to hear you!"

"So let them," she shrugged, "It's not like we have anything to worry about."

"He's got a point," Meredith confessed, "While we may have nothing to worry about, the element of surprise would still be helpful if we come across someone else."

"Oh, alright," Lauren sighed, standing up, "You all are no fun. Let's go." Brian, Meredith, and Lauren moved to leave, but Joe remained where he stood.

"Problem, Walker?" Holden asked.

"I thought I heard something," he answered slowly, listening for any other noise.

Then, without warning, he began to walk towards the piano towards the back of the room where Nick was hiding. Nick felt his heart pounding steadily faster in his chest as Joe came closer and closer to where he sat. Walker was soon within two feet of where he hid, drawing nearer by the second and Nick hardly dared to breathe. It was all over.

"Come on, Joe," Lauren called abruptly, "You're just imagining things; if someone was hiding back there we would have known."

"But-" he started to argue, but thought better of it, "You know what, you're right. I'm just being paranoid." Just like that, he turned, walked back over to his allies, and they left, slamming the door behind them. Not until the footsteps had faded completely did Nick give a sigh of relief. The three emerged from their hiding places and reconvened back in the center of the room.

"That was _way _too close for comfort," Nick whispered shakily.

"You're telling me," Julia groaned, rubbing her neck moodily. She was almost positive Lauren's bony knee had landed there and shortly, she was going to have bruise to show for it.

"Well, we know two things now," Matt said bluntly, "The alliance of our nightmares just became a reality, and they're out to get us."

"We'll have to figure out what to do about them later," Julia answered, "Right now, let's just get out of here." Grabbing their gear, the group immediately vacated the room and headed for the first floor.

Meanwhile, Joey had meandered up the stairs and was just about to push through the door on to the second floor. He checked his phone one more time. The game had been going on for nearly three hours and it wouldn't surprise Joey if it continued for several more hours. His only chance would be to avoid being caught long enough for everyone else to be eliminated.

Joey strolled into the hallway, almost casually. Suddenly, four shadowy figures emerged from the other end of the hall, whispering quietly. Within a second, Joey had flattened himself against the wall and slid into an especially dark corner. Lauren's petite body, Walker's muscular physique, Holden's lanky frame, and Meredith's medium build were easily distinguished, even in the darkness. Thankfully, they seemed too absorbed in their own conversation to notice Joey. They entered the girl's bathroom, Brian and Joe a little more hesitantly, but they all disappeared inside soon enough.

Naturally, the boy bolted from his hiding spot and dashed up to the third floor. He didn't know if anyone else would be up there, but he really didn't care. Joey ducked into a closet and took out his phone.

_"__What the hell Dylan?" _he texted angrily. It was a few minutes before he received a response.

_"__What's the matter?" _ the reply read.

_"__You just sent me straight into the four-way alliance from hell. Is this your idea of a joke?"_

_"__What? NO! Joey, believe you me, I had absolutely no idea. I seriously thought they were going back to the basement. And what do you mean four-way alliance? I'm pretty sure Bri and Joe only count as two people."_

_"__Dude, you seriously have no idea? Those two teamed up with Meredith and Lauren."_

_"__Shit. Alright, we can't afford to wander around by ourselves anymore. Meet me in the janitor's closet on the first floor in fifteen minutes. Bring any equipment you think might be useful. It's go time." _Joey grinned and took off again; that was Dylan he knew.

On entering the bathroom, Walker and Holden stood awkwardly by the door and seemed to be dying to get out as soon as they possibly could. Lauren strolled over to the sinks and expectantly glanced around.

"It's gone," Lauren said stiffly after second. She dropped to her knees to look under the sinks, but no such luck. Not even the slightest twinkle of silver could be found.

"I'll bet anything I know what happened to it," Meredith grimaced, "Matt and Nick probably swiped it when they came down here looking for Julia."

"Don't worry about it too much," Walker shrugged, "We can get it back easy."

"For now, let's go take care of Joey and Dylan," Holden suggested, edging towards the door.

"I second that," Joe nodded.

"Alright, let's go," Lauren sighed a second later, "Come on, Mere."

"It's like those three have a death wish," Meredith muttered, shaking her head and following her friends out.


	9. A Force to Be Reckoned With

**Hey everyone! New chapter! And on a completely awesome side note, there is going to be art based on this story! This is all thanks to Cortexiphan, one of my fantastic readers. She has started drawing this story in comic book form and it looks incredible. There's a cover drawing up on her Tumblr, you should check her out at frizzy-hair-and-frumpy-clothes and also look at some of her other art. Now, on with the story! Hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999.**

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The shadowy figure scoped out the first floor hallway; this is where the fun would begin. All of a sudden, she heard the creak of a door and bolted into a nearby room.

"Matt? Nick?" a deep voice called, "I have the black paper and tape you asked me to bring!" Curious, the figure poked her head out the door and watched an extremely tall male stumble along the wall, trying to adjust to the darkness.

Jim Povolo didn't have a clue what was going on; all he knew was that Matt and Nick had called earlier that day asking if he was in town and if he was, to meet at the drama center at two o' clock sharp and bring tape and black paper. Unfortunately, this had been conveyed in voice mail form, seeing as he had been in the middle of an audition. He knew he was several hours late, but figured he should still show up. The building seemed to be empty, but Jim had seen a few familiar cars in the parking lot and decided to check anyway.

Out of nowhere, he felt a hand on his shoulder and whipped around to see a set of eyes looking back at him.

"Nice of you to turn up, Jim," the figure chuckled.

"Hey, I figured better late than never," he shrugged, looking around, "Do I even want to know what's going on in here?"

"We shouldn't talk in the open," she whispered, "Follow me if you want to survive." She turned to leave and Jim, still bewildered, obediently followed. She climbed the stairs once more up to her base in the security office. After quickly unlocking the door, she pulled Jim inside and turned on the security feed once more.

"Okay, so what's going on?" Jim asked again, leaning against a wall as the figure fell back into the chair.

"Matt and Nick issued a challenge," the figure answered, turning her attention the screens, "You have just walked straight into a Nerf gun war like you've never seen. Anything goes; stealing weapons, making alliances, and taking hostages are all fair game. The brothers also hid extra ammo around the building, but most of that is already gone as far as I can tell."

"Anything else I should know?" The mysterious person turned back to Jim, evil villain style in the office chair, hands folded in front of her.

"I plan on winning."

Joe, Brian, Meredith, and Lauren continued their descent into the basement of the building. They crept up to the stage combat room, but at this point, subtlety wasn't exactly the group's strong point. Brian ended up kicking the door open before anyone could say something against it. However, on entering, the room was abandoned.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Meredith remarked.

"Shut up," Walker scowled, looking around the room and heading towards the stack of mats by the back wall. He stuck his hand in between the blue pads, reaching for something. "At least we still have-" Joe stopped abruptly, freezing momentarily.

"Still have what?" Lauren asked keenly.

"Don't tell me," Brian groaned, "They got those too." Sure enough, Walker came back empty-handed.

"You still haven't answered the question," Meredith responded, "What are you two looking for?"

"A pack of twenty extra darts, but it's gone," Brian answered grimly, "Joey and Dylan must have found them while they were here and used them against us."

"Not so unimportant when _you_ lose something, is it?" Lauren retorted, crossing her arms.

"That's different," Joe shook his head, "Those darts could have actually helped us in the game."

"Just drop it you two," Meredith rolled her eyes, "We have more important things to do."

"Alright, we need to figure out our strategy. I'm not going on some suicide mission to take out those four," Julia remarked, drumming her fingers on her knee, "Who has ideas?" The group of three was currently sitting underneath a stairwell, laying low and biding their time.

"Let's start with what we know," Nick asked, "What are their weaknesses?"

"They're a bigger group than we are, but that means it's harder for them to mobilize," Matt answered, "They lack stealth."

"Right," Julia continued, "What about individual weaknesses?"

"Walker has muscle, but he's slower than the others and can't maneuver as well," Nick pointed out, "We could easily outrun him."

"Brian isn't as good a shot as the others," Matt added.

"As for Mere, she's probably the best markswoman, but she's easily distracted," Julia replied, "And Lo, she's got a temper that makes Serena Williams look tame."

"We're forgetting the most important point though," Nick said, "Their advantage comes from them working together, right? If we can separate them, we could pick them off one by one."

"I'll take Joe," Matt volunteered, "I know for a fact I can outmaneuver him."

"In that case, I'll handle Holden," Nick responded, "What about you, Julia?"

"In all honesty, I'd rather try to take out Meredith," Julia sighed grimly, "But I think we all know Lauren wouldn't take that lying down and I can't outshoot Meredith on my own. We'd be better off getting rid of Lauren and then focusing on Meredith. Besides, I'm pretty sure I know how to push her buttons better than anyone else."

"Then it's decided," Matt nodded, "We'll work as a team to divide them and once they're alone, we can pick them off one-on-one. Our best bet would be to let them see us, then take off running in different directions so they have to split up to follow us."

"I know Mere and Lo are going to follow me," Julia commented, "They're probably still pissed I got away, especially after that text I sent."

"How are you going to manage to shake Meredith off to get Lauren alone?" Nick inquired.

"I've got a pretty good idea," Julia grinned mischievously, "But what about you two? How are you going to split Walker and Holden up?"

"We're brothers," Matt smiled devilishly, "We'll just have to give them double trouble."

Joey, meanwhile, had managed to collect a few things on his way to meet Dylan on the first floor. After the quick raid of a costume closet, he now had a pair of black gloves, a few bandannas, and black war paint. Along the way he had also found a roll of duct tape, a screwdriver, a flashlight and a length of rope.

He casually strolled along the hall, stopping in front of the janitor's closet. Joey quickly looked right, then left, to ensure he was alone. Quietly twisting the doorknob, he entered the pitch black closet.

"Dylan, it's me, Joey," he whispered, flicking on his flashlight, "So what's the plan for-" He stopped and had to keep himself from yelling out.

The light had fell on to the back corner of the closet, revealing Dylan, who was gagged with his hands tied behind his back. A look of panic flashed in Dylan's eyes as he struggled to free himself. He made noise, but the gag kept Joey from understanding.

Suddenly, Joey felt cold plastic between his shoulder blades and a hand over his mouth.

"Don't take another step and don't you dare scream," a throaty voice rasped in his ear, "Or so help me, I will shoot."

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**Wow, that got really intense, really fast...I enjoy it...If you enjoy it too, use that nice little review button!**


	10. The Less You Know, the Safer You'll Be

**I'm back! I know I always say the new chapter is my favorite so far, but I really think this one is...Here's to hoping you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Read and review. As always, hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999.**

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Joey froze; his heart beating faster and faster in his chest. He was screwed for sure this this time.

"Now, be a good boy and put the gun on the floor," the voice commanded in a harsh whisper.

Joey didn't know what else he could do, so he surrendered the weapon as well as the flashlight. As soon as he did, something was tied tightly over his eyes, eliminating the possibility of him seeing his captor's face. He also felt all of his equipment being taken, even the black war paint.

"But, the texts," he murmured softly, "They came from Dylan's phone."

"Texts can be misleading," the voice replied smoothly, "Especially when the phone has fallen into someone else's possession."

"Who are you?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." Just like that, a gag was shoved into his mouth and he was forced to move. As he was guided along the hall, his mind wandered. Joey knew that voice, he just couldn't figure out who it belonged to. The raspy voice was undeniably female, but that was all he could deduce.

After being pushed into a room, his hands were bound as well as his ankles with what he could have sworn was his own rope. Joey lay on the floor, helpless, as he heard a set of footsteps echoing down the hallway as the figure left.

While this had been going on, Julia, Matt, and Nick had crept down the stairs and into the basement.

"Everyone knows what to do?" Nick asked, clutching his Nerf Gun. Both Matt and Julia nodded. "Then let's do this." The group crept up to the stage combat classroom and entered. For a split second, the two group stared at each other before the brothers and Julia sprinted away.

"What are we waiting for? Get them!" Lauren yelled, and the rest of her group took off after them.

The three-way alliance specifically ran towards an area that had two different hallways. Once they had reached the intersection, Matt and Nick took off down a different path while Julia continued to run straight ahead.

"Now what?" Walker asked.

"We split up," Brian nodded, "We'll follow the Langs."

"And we'll follow Julia," Meredith finished. They ran after their chosen targets, trying to make up for lost time.

It was the boys who met first. The brothers came to another split in the hallways and changed their direction once more. Matt went right while Nick went left, and Walker and Brian followed, respectively.

Just when it seemed Joe might catch up, Matt put on an extra burst of speed and ducked behind a trashcan, waiting for Walker to unknowingly run past. Nick managed to lure Holden into another room and they were now having a shoot-out, each of them hidden behind a table.

"It won't be long now," the shadowy figure smiled, watching the rest of the group on the security screens while Jim looked on. Black war paint was smeared under her eyes, as well as Jim's, and both had black bandannas tied around their forehead. The figure grabbed the flashlight and the screwdriver from the pile of stolen gear, along with her backpack.

"I'm assuming you aren't planning on telling me anything about this supposedly perfect plan?" Jim raised an eyebrow. While he was slightly ticked off that she wouldn't let him do anything but watch the video monitors, he was still curious, nevertheless.

"Correction, I will tell you what you need to know," she replied, tossing Jim the spare weapon and pulling on the pair of fingerless gloves, "The less you know, the safer you'll be."

"Gee, thanks," Jim muttered.

"You'll be able to get in on the action soon, promise," she nodded as she moved the stolen equipment out of sight, "Stay here while I go take care of something and use that to defend yourself, if necessary. And what do we do if someone manages to get in here?"

"Tell them I wandered into the building and got kidnapped," Jim recited, imitating the figure's voice, "I didn't see who it was because they came from behind and they locked me in here."

"Excellent," the figure replied, "I'll be back in ten minutes, tops. Be ready to go the second I get back here, because we won't have much time after that." The mysterious person disappeared, locking the door behind her. Jim simply sighed and shook his head.

The figure moved through the floors one by one, using the screwdriver to slightly loosen and pry open each of the air vents. It took slightly more effort to do it unseen in the basement, where all the action was taking place, but she managed it just fine. She wanted _everyone _to hear what happened next. Once everything had been opened, she slipped off to take care of one last detail.

It had taken Julia a bit longer to get her target alone than it had either of the brothers. As she ran towards yet another fork, she took the roll of duct tape from her wrist and threw it as hard as she could down the right hallway as she went down the left. She ducked into a room and waited.

"Which way did she go?" Lauren asked.

"I thought I heard her go right, but I also heard something go left," Meredith replied, wrinkling her nose thoughtfully. "I'll go left, you go right." So the two girls took off sprinting again. As soon as she heard Meredith's footsteps pass, Julia emerged and went back down the right hallway to follow Lauren. Once she saw Lauren ahead of her, she grinned mischievously.

"Looking for someone, Lo?" she called smugly. Lauren whipped around and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You," Lauren growled, stalking towards her roommate, "You little-"

"Ah, ah, ah," Julia chided, interrupting her smugly, "I'd be careful if I were you. Remember, we do live together and we wouldn't want any hurt feelings, now would we? Besides, you can't really be angry with me, not when you and Meredith so stupidly left me alone. You pretty much handed me an invitation to escape…" Julia was doing her job maybe just a little too well; Lauren looked as though she might throw something, with her eyes burning and her fists clenched.

Back on the first floor, Joey laid on the floor for what felt like hours until finally felt a pair of eyes staring at him. He could sense footsteps, slowly approaching him. Soon enough though, his gag was removed

"What are you going to do to me?" he said, his voice quavering slightly.

"It's really more of what you are going to do for me," the raspy voice answered, leaning in close enough so that Joey could almost hear her breathe. "Now scream, Joey, scream or else your friend gets it." He needed no further encouragement; his scream pierced through the darkness as the figure took off running.

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**A/N: GASP!** **Now all the pieces of the plan are falling into place for the elusive mysterious figure, whoever they are... Can you figure out what's going to happen next? I bet you all have a pretty close idea, but keep those to yourself for now. We don't want to spoil it for anyone else, do we?**


	11. A Temporary Truce

**We're getting closer! The intense, Hunger Games atmosphere continues. I do confess; I modeled the mysterious figure after Rue. They are the small, silent threat that no one expects, the one person who knows where everyone is but no one has a clue where they are hiding...Enjoy, read, and review. Hugs and butterfly kisses**, **ravenclawdancer4999.**

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The sound of Joey's scream echoed through the building, traveling through the air vents and reaching the ears of everyone.

Matt was the first to react to the earsplitting cry. He leapt from his hiding spot and went sprinting back down then hall in the direction he came. Whipping past Walker, he bolted towards the other end of the floor, towards where his brother gone. If he wasn't mistaken, the noise had come from the first floor and he wasn't going to take any chances going alone.

Walker, in turn, skidded to a stop and whipped around to see Matt's retreating figure. Having no choice, Joe continued ran back down the hallway he had just come from and tried to make up the lost ground, but it was pointless. Desperate to try to slow Matt down, he took a couple of feeble shots, but they all missed. The best he could do was follow at a distance of about twenty five feet.

It wasn't long after the scream until Dylan, who was still tied up in the janitor's closet managed to put together what was happening. He sighed deeply; he could take a wild guess of what was going on and there was no way he could stop it. Even if he could manage to escape, he still couldn't warn anyone about what was coming; it had been one of the primary rules they had set for the game when they first played. After you were eliminated, you couldn't talk to anyone still in the game in any way.

Suddenly, there was a click of the door and the figure entered again, except this time, she wasn't alone. She was accompanied by Jim, who looked extremely confused. Silently, the mysterious person approached Dylan and undid his bindings, both around his wrists and his mouth.

"I need you to do something for me," she whispered, "I've got a little acting assignment for you." Unfortunately, another one of the rules was that you had to do what your assassin wanted, within reason obviously. She took him by the shoulder and led him away, Jim in their wake.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Nick demanded from the floor below, still ducked under the table.

"I thought you knew!" Brian yelled across the room, "You don't know?"

"Do you think if I'd be asking you if I did?" Nick retorted. Just then, Matt came bursting in and ducked behind the table with his brother. Soon enough Joe followed and did the same on Brian's side.

"Please tell me you heard the scream too," Matt hissed in Nick's ear.

"I'd have to be deaf not to have heard it, Captain Obvious," he grumbled.

"We don't have time for your crap, we have to investigate," Matt replied, before adding innocently, "Sergeant Sarcasm."

"I suppose you know where it came from, Senior Smartass?"

"As a matter of fact I do, Admiral Asshole. It came from the first floor. Now we just need to get out of here to go check it out."

"Leave it to me, Sir Simpleton." Nick cleared his throated and yelled across the room. "Hey! You over there, behind the table! How about we call a temporary truce so we can figure out who screamed?"

"What's in it for us?" Walker called back.

"Two minute head start on us after we figure out what went down up there," Matt answered promptly before Nick could open his mouth.

"Five minutes," Joe prompted.

"Three minutes," Matt replied firmly, "Take it or leave it." There was slight pause, including some grumbling from Joe.

"We'll take it," Brian agreed exasperatedly, getting to his feet and the others following the suit, "What about the girls?"

"They'll just have to figure something out," Nick said distractedly, "Let's get going already."

Meredith didn't really have much to think about when it came down to it; she heard the scream, made sure she was alone, and took off running to find out where it came from. Julia and Lauren, however, were a different story. They had both frozen when they heard the scream, but now glared at each other as harshly as before. In theory, the girls could have made a temporary truce like the boys had, but they were both far too stubborn do that.

"Let's settle this," Lauren spoke slowly, before giving a yell of her own, "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!" She took off running in the opposite direction, leaving a slightly confused Julia in her wake. Once she had a chance to process what just happened, Julia sprinted in the opposite direction to head her off on the first floor. If she moved fast enough, she could catch Lauren at the top of the other stairwell.

Sure enough, the two girls met at the top of the stairs and continued to chase each other until they almost ran straight into Joe, Brian, Matt, and Nick.

"What are you doing here?" they both exclaimed.

"Same thing as you," Joe shrugged "We all wanted to know who screamed."

"And you decided that now you're all buddy-buddy?" Julia asked exasperatedly.

"It's temporary truce," Nick corrected, "There's a huge difference."

"Well, have you solved the mystery yet?" Lauren said dryly, "Or do we have to do it for you?"

"As a matter of fact we-" Brian started before another scream met everyone's ears. In an instant, everyone was sprinting to the source of the sound. It was Joe who kicked open the door and was the first to see Joey, bound, blindfolded, and helpless.

"What the hell?" Walker muttered as everyone gathered around to see what was so interesting.

"Walker?" Joey asked nervously, "That you?"

"Yeah, me, Lauren, Matt, Julia, Nick, and Brian," he answered, walking over to undo the tight knots. The minute the blindfold fell way from his face, he looked around frantically, almost looking like something was going to jump out at any second.

"Chill, Joey," Julia sighed, "We're not going to shoot you, yet."

"Dude, what happened to you?" Brian asked, "Who did this?"

"I…I don't know," he stammered, getting to his feet, "I never saw their face and I didn't recognize their voice at all, they must have disguised it somehow. All I know is that it was a girl. I was supposed to go meet Dylan, but it was a trap and-oh no, you guys haven't seen Dylan have you?" Just then, there was another loud yell, but this time, it wasn't Joey.

"Dylan," Matt uttered.


	12. Game Over

**Super fast chapter update! I generally take a while to write a new chapter, but I was so excited to get this one out to you! This is the last chapter that actually takes place during the game; I'm pretty sure I'll be writing a brief epilogue for the story, but that'll just be to tie up the loose ends. Read AND review my friends, and enjoy! Hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999.**

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Everyone shared a look and went running out the door, trying to find the source of the noise. Lauren, who was at the head of the group, froze and the rest of the group nearly ran straight into her.

"What is it?" Nick breathed in her ear. Lauren said nothing, but pointed straight ahead

At the end of the hallway, there was a dark figure leaning over something on the floor. The group tiptoed closer. It was evidently a girl and on closer inspection, the shape she had been leaning over was none other than Dylan. The person rose from her knees and turned to leave, only to be greeted with the blinding light from Matt's phone.

"Meredith?" Brian gasped, as the girl blinked rapidly and tried to clear her vision, "You did this?"

"Did what?" she asked, "And where did Joey come from?"

"You should know," Joey snarled, "You're the one who tied me up in the first place!"

"I did what?" Meredith replied, looking confused.

"What they're trying to say is, Joey thinks you tied him up and that you're responsible for," Julia sighed, gesturing to Dylan, who was still splayed on the floor, "That."

"No, I found him like this," Meredith shook her head rapidly; "I have no idea who did it."

"Okay, there is something seriously weird going on here," Joe muttered, approaching Dylan and surveying him.

He was lying on his stomach, his hands out in front of him and his eyes were shut. There was no Nerf gun in sight, presumably it had been taken.

"Looks like he was shot from behind," Matt observed, joining Walker, "He would have fallen on to his back if it came from the front."

"Wait a minute," Brian cut in, squinting to see, "What's that? In his right hand?" He leaned down and carefully extracted something small and silver.

"My bracelet!" Lauren exclaimed, taking it from Holden before she whipped around to glare at Joey, "I could have sworn Matt and Nick took it, but it was you two all along!"

"We never took it, we never even saw it!" Joey scowled.

"And what makes you think Matt and I took it?" Nick crossed his arms.

"Don't play innocent," Meredith rolled her eyes, "We left the bracelet in the girls' bathroom and we know that's where you went running to find Julia."

"There wasn't any bracelet when we got there," Matt replied stubbornly.

"Joey was too busy stealing our spare ammo to have taken the bracelet," Brian said, giving Joey a dirty look.

"What spare ammo?" Joey blanched, "Dylan and I didn't find anything and we combed the room."

"Ha! So you admit it!" Walker replied, pointing a finger at him accusingly.

"Admit what? I just told you Dylan and I didn't find anything!" Joey almost shouted.

"Oh, so I suppose now you're going to tell us you didn't steal our stuff from out of the piano when we went to save Julia?" Nick accused.

"What are you talking about?" Joey exclaimed exasperatedly, "I'm being set up!"

"You sent us the note, Joey," Matt insisted, "You told us that Joe and Brian were headed towards the girls and they would make enough of a distraction for us to get Julia."

"What note?" Joey practically screamed. Julia had been oddly silent the entire time, before she spoke up.

"Matt, Nick, do you guys still have the actual note?" she asked, her tone surprisingly calm compared to everyone else, "The one Joey claims he didn't send?" Both brothers checked for a minute before Matt pulled the slip of paper from his back pocket.

Julia took the slip of paper and extracted her cell phone, using the light to see the message. After half a second, her eyes grew wide with realization and shock. The slip of paper fluttered to the floor at her feet as a small gasp escaped from her lips.

"Guys, that's not Joey's handwriting, that's-" Before she could finish, a Styrofoam bullet soared through the darkness, hitting Julia square in the chest. She collapsed to the floor, much to the horror of everyone around her.

"No!" Nick screamed.

"Who?!" Lauren yelled, falling to her knees and grabbing her roommate's shoulder, "Whose handwriting is it, Jules?" The petite girl reached for the slip of paper, but before she could grab it, Lauren received a bullet to the shoulder and was forced to fall to the floor next to Julia.

Joey dove for the slip of paper next and managed to pick it up, but took a bullet to the back before he could read it. He too, crumpled to the floor.

Matt looked as though he was about to bend down to pick it up before Joe grabbed him roughly by the shirt and yanked him back up.

"Are you insane?" he hissed, "Every person who's tried to touch that thing has been eliminated!"

"But it's the only clue we have!" Matt argued. Unfortunately, while they had been distracted by their argument, Brian was hit in the knee and fell at their feet.

Only Matt, Nick, Meredith, and Joe remained. The four immediately went back to back, each of them facing a different direction. With guns pointed, fear and adrenaline coursed through their veins as they waited.

"Does anyone else feel strangely like Charlie's Angels?" Meredith asked casually, trying to ignore her heart pounding loudly in her chest.

"Yeah, now that you mention it," Nick mused, "It's almost like that time they-"

He never got the chance to finish; another bullet soared towards him. Just when it seemed it might find its mark, Matt shoved his brother out of the way and took the shot to the stomach. He plummeted to the ground before everyone's eyes, falling directly at his brother's feet. Before anyone could stop him, Nick was immediately at his brother's side.

"You idiot!" he muttered, "You should have just let me take it!" And take it he did; in no time flat, a bullet nailed him the collar bone before he could say anything more. Only Meredith and Joe stood in the center of the hall now, surrounded by the motionless figures of their friends, lying helplessly on the floor.

"Should we run?" Joe asked, now back-to-back with Meredith.

"Do I look like I want to have 'moving target' tattooed on my forehead?" Meredith whispered sarcastically, "Besides, only cowards run." At these words, another shot rang out, and Meredith was down.

"Better a coward than a dead man," Joe murmured his pulse quickening. As he turned to run, there were suddenly footsteps from the opposite direction. He whipped around and cocked his weapon, ready for a strike.

On the other side of the hallway, the shadowy figure was on the move. She carefully matched her footsteps with her accomplice's. She didn't stop until she clearly saw Joe's backside, tense with fear. With her dark hair swinging behind her and her blue eyes flashing powerfully, she fired a single shot. The bullet hit the back of his head and the final player fell with a cry.

"Game over," Jaime smiled wickedly.

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**Whoa, didn't see that one coming from innocent little Jaime did you? Or maybe you did, I don't know, but I hope that regardless, you all enjoyed. See you in the epilogue!**


	13. Thus, I Was Triumphant

**Here you go, the last chapter of the story! Sorry I took so long, but I wanted a great epilogue to round out a story that I ended up being mildly pleased with. I hope you guys liked it; I'll try to start something else or continue one of my other stories once this is over, but I can't promise it'll be ready any time soon, I'll do my best! Read and review, check out Cortexiphan's art on Tumblr, and enjoy the final installment of "Nerf Gun Battle Royale." Hugs and butterfly kisses, ravenclawdancer4999**

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Jaime slowly wove through the maze of immobile players, looking extremely pleased with herself. From the shadows emerged Jim, who was smiling as well.

"I'll admit, I'm impressed," he grinned.

"It's their fault for thinking I wasn't a threat," she shrugged, "After that it was a piece of cake."

"What will you do now with your newfound title as champion?" Jim asked.

"May I?" Jaime replied, gesturing to Jim's back.

"Why not?" Jim laughed, holding out his hand. The girl hopped up on to his back and raised her Nerf gun high in the air.

"I, Jaime Lyn Beatty, victor of this Nerf Gun Battle Royale, do declare the game to be officially over," she declared loudly, "All those who failed may rise."

Slowly but surely, the rest of the Starkids got to their feet. Each person wore almost identical expressions of disbelief and confusion as they stared at Jaime. Once everyone had gathered, Jaime dismounted from Jim's back.

"You may all sit, while I explain to you precisely what happened and how my victory came to be," she commanded. Everyone looked at each other and obeyed, still extremely curious.

"As I explained to Jim, your first mistake came when you thought I wasn't a threat and forgot I was even there. My journey began when I spied on Dylan and Joey, and discovered their alliance, while hiding behind a soundboard. Soon after, I discovered each of your hideouts while you were making plans and gathering supplies. I was the footsteps that Joe and Brian heard and followed up to Julia, Matt, and Nick's base. After you three had left, I broke into your base and took your supplies for myself. Not long after, I took advantage of Lauren and Meredith's absence to steal Lauren's bracelet, something I knew would come in handy later. Later, while Joey and Dylan were gone, I snuck into Brian and Joe's base and stole their spare darts for myself. All of these were done so you would automatically accuse someone else. This was set up to create the ultimate distraction."

"Eventually things got too quiet and I had to stir things up. As Julia realized far too late, _I _was the one who left the note for Matt and Nick. It had been my original hope that Julia would successfully escape, Lo and Meredith would get mad, and try to get revenge later. I had also planned that our so called, 'dream team' might end up eliminating each other. Unfortunately, this didn't go as planned and temporarily threw a wrench in my strategy."

"Ha!" Walker laughed, earning a deadly glare from Jaime.

"Silence, loser," she ordered, "The time had come for me to take matters into my own hands. I eliminated Dylan and kept him tied up, knowing he would be useful later. Which leads me to Joey; I stole Dylan's cell phone without his knowledge and led Joey directly to me. He was shortly kidnapped and placed in the room you found him in."

"That's where I came in," Jim added, glancing sideways at Jaime, "She filled me in once we went back to her base."

"Hey, wait!" Nick cut in, "Jim wasn't officially in the game, so doesn't that mean you cheated?"

"Not as far as I can tell," Jaime replied innocently, "I was under the impression that, and I quote, '_Anything _you find in the building is fair game.' As far I'm concerned, Jim falls under the category of 'anything.'" There was silence for a moment as everyone pondered this.

"She's got you there, Nick," Matt admitted.

"The joys of finding a loophole," Jim grinned.

"Anyways," Jaime continued, "After ensuring the building's air vents were open, I blackmailed Joey into screaming his head off, due to the fact he didn't know Dylan was already out of the game. All of you heard his screams, and ended up here." Dylan tentatively raised his hand in the air, catching Jaime's gaze. "Yes, Dylan?"

"Can I tell this part?" he asked. Jaime curtly nodded and Dylan continued. "Jaime and Jim came back to get me and she told me to pretend like I had been shot to attract the rest of you down to where she and Jim were waiting."

"Precisely," Jaime agreed, "From there, it was only a matter of time before you would start piecing together what had happened, so I was forced to eliminate those who would know my handwriting." She gestured to Julia and Lauren. "In addition to anyone who might try to decipher it." Jaime nodded in Joey and Brian's direction. "As you saw, Matt, Nick, and Meredith were quickly removed from the game, which only left Joe. My accomplice was waiting on the opposite end of the hall and began walking towards him to create a diversion so that I could fire at him from behind. And thus, I was triumphant."

"In light of this victory, I do require further respect for my brilliance. You may bow and give praise at your leisure."

"Gee, you think this whole thing might be going to her head?" Lauren muttered in Julia's ear.

"You think?" Julia returned sarcastically.

"What do you say we give her a little slice of humility?" Walker grinned mischievously.

"I'm in," Brian replied.

"Pass it on to the Langs," Joey whispered to Meredith, who promptly conveyed the message. The brothers nodded as inconspicuously as possible.

"On three," Nick uttered, "One, two…"

A volley of bullets went soaring towards Jaime, barraging her almost simultaneously.

"INSOLENT PEASANTS!" Jaime shrieked, trying to contain her laughter as she sprinted off, trying to escape the flood of bullets.

"DOWN WITH THE TYRANT!" Meredith yelled through her giggles.

"VIVA LA REVOLUCION!" Matt added gleefully.

* * *

**And there it is, the end of the story. As for a preview of what I'm working on, there's a pretty nice Spayonder fic in the works, and What Happens on Tour is still lacking in the inspiration department, but I promise I'm working on it. Thanks for all the support, it's been totally awesome!**


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